The Demons When You're Alone
by Squidkid11
Summary: When Sonic goes for a quick run, a blast from the past sends him facing all of his worst fears, but what's real, and what's not? Rated T for Swearing and dark themes.


Quick One-shot based on some pictures on my DeviantArt (Squidkid11, if you're not already there, you're missing some spoilers and other good stuff for my stories. ;) ) That was requested after I posted the pictures.

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There will likely not be more to this story. Don't ask for an update, because there likely will not be one.

 **WARNINGS: Swearing & Some dark themes.**

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He wasn't scared. Nervous and confused would probably describe how he was feeling better. He wasn't sure how he'd gotten there, or where "there" was. It was dark and misty; the fog tinted an ominous purple and black. The sky looked deep violet, like twilight, but without the beauty. The ground under his shows was thick and sticky, reminding him of when he'd stepped in a pile of fast-drying rubber cement put down by one of his so-called friends during April Fools. It had just so happened that a pink hedgehog (who was very angry at the time because he'd refused yet another date) had been following him.

The result had ended with a humiliating afternoon date with his least favorite element as he struggled to remove the glue from his face, chest, legs, and quills, in addition to his shoes. That and he had been nursing the mallet-sized bruise on the back of his head.

But this land was far from welcoming. It made his skin crawl just being there. He once again wondered where there was. It smelled rank and pungent, like something had been rotting away for years, and still wasn't done decaying. The air felt thick and cloying, and he'd never actually welcomed the thought of a shower before now. And the worst part was that it was completely silent. He could hardly hear his own footsteps when he moved. Even his breathing-which was actually quite heavy now because of how thick the air felt-seemed heavily muted.

He took a few uncertain steps forward, watching as the smoke swirled sinisterly around him as he moved. The ground stuck to his feet for a moment before releasing him, though it offered no considerable resistance. He swallowed, his tongue feeling dry and heavy. For some reason, he felt like running was not the best decision, and just walked. He walked for what felt like hours. Days even. It felt like an immense amount of time had passed, yet he never tired. He let his mind wander to the last thing he remembered before showing up here.

XXX

Sonic grinned and whooped loudly as the sound barrier shattered around him, and he casually broke another law of physics. He turned-not slowing down-and sprinted back the way he'd come, launching over any rocks or fallen trees that go in his way with nearly ten feet to spare overhead. He landed each easily, losing almost no speed, before taking off again.

It felt like flying, but he didn't need wings to do it, and could go over twice as fast. He leaned forward further as he grew closer to the clearing ahead, speeding up, pushing 900.

And then he stopped. The whiplash made him see stars, and his knees hyperextended further than they'd ever been pushed, and he thought for sure he'd break something. He staggered backwards and flailed his arms wildly as he tried to regain his balance. He shook his head, feeling sick as the contents of his stomach did spin-dashes inside it at the sudden change in momentum.

He shook his head again and looked down at his feet, then raised a brow. His feet had been encased in some sort of black gel that refused to budge no matter how hard he pulled (which was pretty hard, his legs were powerful) he snarled at it and even resorted to bending down and pulling on it. It was like bubble gum. It stretched, but didn't unstick. He twisted, yanking on his feet angrily, doing his best to free his feet.

"You can't get free."

Sonic jerked at the sudden voice and whirled. A dark hedgehog appeared in his vision in the small forest, and his eyes widened. "Shadow?" He asked curiously.

"Lots of people make that assumption." The shape answered, and stepped forward. Sonic's eyebrow rose. It looked like a palette swap of shadow, except for the part where he didn't have a mouth or nose, and every red streak on Shadow's body was swapped for a dull cyan. "Though I had assumed you would recognize me."

Sonic's quills rose. "Who are you?!" He spat. "What do you want?"

The hedgehog chuckled. "You can call me Mephiles. And what I want, is _revenge._ "

"Revenge?" Sonic's eyes widened. "For what? I've never met you!"

"We've actually met multiple times before. And-in our last encounter-you proved to be quite the thorn." He studied his fingers, rubbing a small piece of dirt from the glove. "You see, I've had this…hatred…for you since our last meeting. Since you, well, survived." He said casually, in a tone that made Sonic swallow nervously. "And defeated me. But really, I must thank you as well."

Sonic didn't answer, still stunned by what he was being told. He wasn't surprised he'd kicked this guy's butt, but he didn't remember any of it. And what did he mean, "survived?"

"If you hadn't defeated me and sealed me away, I wouldn't have evolved, improved, if you will." As the other studied his hand, his fingers grew pointier, stretching the fabric beyond its capabilities. "Upped my game." The fingers burst apart at the tips, sharp claws in their place. Sonic would have stepped back had his feet not been trapped. The gold rings around his wrists grew into his wrist as crystals overtook them, growing from his fur and sprouting from his shoulder. "Increased my power and abilities." Where there should have been a mouth, the blank muzzle stretched and ripped with the sound of tearing fabric, and a terrifying smile formed from the tears, the eyes shifted and crystals grew from the entire form. Reptile eyes took over the green irises, and smoke erupted from around its feet. "Power you'll soon get a taste of."

And he exploded into purple smoke.

XXX

The blue hedgehog opened his eyes again. But how'd end up here? He vaguely remembered a feeling of being unable to breathe and choking, but he wasn't sure what on.

"You've been walking for a while." Sonic stopped dead in his tracks as the same voice-smooth as silk but sinister as any weapon-sounded from nowhere in particular and echoed around him. "I'm surprised. You must be confident in your abilities."

Sonic smirked challengingly. "Heh, you could say that." He put one hand on his hip.

The voice chuckled. "You have grown bolder since we last met. But you are not the only one how has grown, and here, I am king." The ground beneath him split, and Sonic yelped as he plummeted straight down. "Here, everything about you is wide open to me. You're like an open book, hedgehog. You can't hide anything from me. Not before, and certainly not now."

He hit the ground hard on his chin, the rest of his body following close behind and he crumpled to the ground. He groaned, lifting his head and pushed off the ground. He staggered to his feet, stretching. "You'll have to do better than a fall, dude. I do that almost daily."

An evil chuckle told him he'd soon eat his words. "Well, then let's up the intensity." The ground he was standing on melted, and he shrieked as it turned to water. He was completely submerged, and e struggled to return to the surface. He hit his head. His eyes widened in terror as he found a layer of what felt like ice covering the surface, and he slammed his fist against it, panic building.

"I wasn't aware of this little phobia of yours when we first met. Might've made things easier. And if you'd stayed dead, you wouldn't be in this situation."

Sonic couldn't help but freeze at his words. _Stayed_ dead? He was dead before? He shrugged the thought away, deciding to focus on it after he wasn't in danger of dying again. The hedgehog pushed his head against the ice, forcing himself to keep looking for a crack in it. Trouble was, he was running out of air, and his lungs were starting to ache. He looked around, hoping for a crack. He was rewarded by a small fracture slightly to his left, and began moving towards it slowly, using small notches in the ice to pull himself along. The problem was, the crack didn't seem to be getting any closer. He swallowed dryly, and looked at the ice above him. In a last ditch effort, he slammed his feet against the ice, and was shocked to find that it broke. It shattered around his feet and he crawled free of the hated liquid, coughing and hacking. He slumped onto solid ground on his chest, breathing heavily and-despite hating the smell of the earth here-buried his face in the withered grass and tried to tell his hear to calm down or it would break his ribs.

"You really are nothing more than a blue rat." Sonic weakly looked up as a mound of the goo he'd been captured in began to writhe and shoot upwards, winding itself in complex patterns, before the crystalline hedgehog began to take shape from the ooze, his torn mouth still leering at the hedgehog. Sonic was too tired and traumatized from the water incident to be surprised. He let his face fall back to the ground, still shaking violently. "No better way to get rid of a rat than by drowning it, after all." Sonic stiffened, and his eyes widened into the rancid dirt. "You seem to follow that rule nicely." The sadistic form mused.

Sonic swallowed and pushed himself onto shaky arms and legs. He'd finally managed to calm his heart and pushed the memory from his mind. His eyes narrowed, and he stood and whirled, sprinting away, all in the same second.

The voice began to echo around him again. "Run all you want, rat, you can't escape me here." Sonic yelped as a pit formed in front of him. At the speeds he was going, he couldn't have stopped if he wanted to. Instead, he launched into the air, spin-dashed, and landed on the other side, still sprinting. A growl echoed around him. "You're fast, hedgehog, I'll give you that."

Sonic didn't bother to answer. _There has to be a way out of here._ His brain did it's best to quell the panic that was rising in his chest. He was scared now. This place gave him the creeps, and held an air of ominous intentions. Like he was here to fulfil some sadistic pleasure. The place was unnerving, the smell felt like it stuck to his fur, dragging him down, and the fog made it look like his vision had gone blurry.

"SONIC!"

The horrible shriek stopped him dead in his tracks, and he whipped around at another scream. "No! Please! Help!"

Sonic shot off in the direction of the shout, screeching shrilly. "TAILS!"

"Sonic!"

"Tails! Where are you?!" Panic was rising in his chest, and his breathing sped up again. Had his younger brother been dragged to this hell-hole as well? And how?

"Please! No!" A shrill scream echoed through his ears, and a sonic boom shattered the air as he pushed himself further, trying to get to the fox as fast as possible.

"TAILS!" Sonic shrieked. He slid to a stop, his breath hitching at the limp and bloodied form in front of him. "No." He choked, dropping to his knees. "No, no, no, nononononononono." He whimpered, reaching from the bloodied shape. As soon as his fingers brushed the fur, it dissolved, and Sonic backed up, screaming in shock, as what had appeared to be the dead body of his younger brother shrank and flattened, turning into the churning goo.

The crystalline hedgehog took shape again, and when he opened the horrible, torn mouth, Tails' voice came out. "Please! Help! Sonic!" Then a horrible, crooked grin passed over the face, and-still keeping the kit's voice-the sadistic creature sobbed quietly. "You weren't fast enough, Sonic. Where were you? You promised you'd keep me safe."

Sonic choked, his eyes filling with tears. "You sick bastard." He croaked. His ears and eyes were sending him two horribly conflicting messages. He knew what he saw, but the voice made it impossible for him to not picture the fox saying those exact words.

The cold, manipulative voice took over, fading from the fox's voice into the smooth one that still didn't quite fit the picture in front of him. "I'm the sick bastard?" He purred silkily. "You're the one whose antics have led to the deaths of hundreds."

Sonic froze.

"Chaos? The planet shattering? The ARK? How many do you think died when all of those disasters happened? And how many of them did you cause?"

The creature moved closer. "And you still think I'm the sick bastard." He cooed, stepping closer to the frozen hedgehog, his reptilian eyes looking coldly into the emerald ones.

Sonic finally regained control of his legs and stepped backwards, his ears flattening. "I stopped them! I saved lives!" He sputtered. His words fell hollowly on his own ears. He'd saved some, but…others had died too… He shook his head. "No. What happened, happened, and I've saved the world, multiple times." He turned on his heel and walked away, still trying to force the image from his mind of the shape Mephiles had taken, and the words he'd spoken in the fox's voice.

"You may have saved some, but you lost others. What happens when those losses grow too great for you to handle?" Sonic stopped dead in his tracks. He shouldn't have looked back. He knew he shouldn't have. Even as his head was rotating, he knew it was a bad idea.

A horrible choking cry escaped his throat unwillingly at the names etched into the tombstones behind him. Each of his closest friends were etched into cracked and brittle stone, each bearing a quote aimed directly at him.

Shadow's read "The one time I needed you, you were gone."

Espio was cold. "You always claimed you were our friends."

Amy's was etched with a dying rose. "The last thing you said to me was 'no.'"

Vector's was the least tragic. "You never paid me back."

Cream's was innocent and hit him in the gut. "Where were you, Mr. Sonic?"

Knuckles' was cold and unforgiving. "You always claimed you were never late."

Charmy's was confused. "Why didn't you show up?"

Tails' made him drop to his knees again. "You promised you would protect me."

"What happens when you take your thrill seeking too far?" A black rose grew quickly next to him, only to wither and die within seconds of fully blooming. "What happens when your heroics cost them their lives?" The figure stepped up next to him. Sonic hardly noticed. He was far too busy staring in agony at the carvings in the stone. "What happens when you break all the promises you made? What happens when you fail?"

Sonic whirled, standing up angrily. "SHUT UP!" He shrieked, before racing away, a Sonic Boom in his wake.

The voice trailed him, chuckling. "This is the wit of Sonic the Hedgehog? His tongue as fast as his feet? I'm disappointed. I'd hoped our encounter would be as colorful as the last. I recall you having quite a bit to say at that point."

Sonic didn't slow down as he ran. "Maybe I've just had it up to _HERE_ with this place and want to go home!" He spat.

"Oh, but we're just getting started. There's still so much to pick at in here."

 _Pick at?_ The thought briefly occurred to him that this was a strange way to phrase this horrible place, but the thought was quickly swept from his mind as the entire ground below him softened at an alarming rate and turned to goo. He yelped as his feet sank deep into the substance, effectively immobilizing him. At which point the goo began to crawl up his legs and chest.

Thoroughly shaken by the feeling, which reminded him of the time Knuckles had dropped worms on him while the hedgehog was taking a nap during a fishing trip, (this had ended up with Sonic soaking wet and clinging to a tree for dear life, and Knuckles pulling leeches from his dreadlocks) and he wriggled uncomfortably as they snaked their way towards his arms and wrists.

Another tendril made its way towards his neck which thoroughly terrified him at this point. He'd been traumatized too many times in too little time to keep his head in situations like this, before the goo proceeded to defy gravity and snake its way upwards through the sky, weaving and braiding itself in complex patterns as it grew, before finally reaching a cloud of smoke, from which a massive, crystal hand materialized, and the goo attached itself to each finger separately. The smoke slowly began to separate and take form to the crystal shape he was beginning to hate and fear with a passion.

He struggled, pulling defiantly against each strand, of which five had formed, two around his wrists, two more around his ankles, and the fifth forming a collar around his neck. As he struggled, they grew tighter, which wouldn't have been that uncomfortable, had there not been one around his neck that seemed to be tightening more than the others. He grew still when he began wheezing and gasping for air. A few seconds after he had gone limp, the hold loosened, and the shape above him was fully formed, over five times his height.

At that point, Sonic was struck with the cruel image of a limp, blue marionette, and he whimpered, his ears flattening.

The shape chuckled. "Revenge is sweet, you know." He lifted one finger ponderously, and Sonic felt his left arm lift in tune with it.

He snarled and yanked it back. "I'm no one's puppet!" He spat, finding the strength to kick at the ropes binding his arms to the hand above him with a move that would have impressed most trapeze artists. It bent and curved, but only succeeded in choking him. He put his hands between his neck and the rope, pushing it away, and gasping loudly. He looked up as a glowing crystal appeared in the other hedgehog's hand, the one not currently occupied holding his puppet, and brought it across he strings in one harsh stroke. They snapped and he plummeted.

Sonic shrieked as the ground rushed up to meet him, and let out a whoosh of air as his back-spines hit the ground, and he closed his eyes on impact.

He fell to the side, gasping and wheezing limply as he tried to regain the air so forcefully driven from him. When he opened his eyes, he was stunned to find greenery.

He wheezed as he pushed himself up onto his side, propping himself up at least decently to look around in shock. He was home. He recognized this place. He was in the clearing, just past the forest, where Mephiles had first ambushed him. And barely an hour had passed.

He was drenched in sweat, and shaking violently. He rolled over-still making wheezy noises as his lungs were forced to accept the air they had so violently rejected a moment ago. He grabbed his head, closing his eyes as he tried to sift through the memories, which was proving difficult, as his brain had outright refused to store some of the details of his more traumatizing moments. _So…I never left here? It was all in my head?_ He finally pieced together hesitantly. He opened his eyes and stood-wincing as his knees screamed in protest-and looked around quickly, re-orienting himself, and started limping back to his house. It really didn't hinder him that badly (and it looked worse than it was) but running and walking with two badly hyperextended knees was nowhere near the top of his list of "Things I'm Really Missing in Life."

Then again, traumatizing hallucinations weren't high on that list either.

He shook his head, staring worriedly around. The guy could literally turn into smoke or ooze at will. He could be hiding anywhere, and he sounded like he wasn't done yet. _"There's still so much to pick at in here."_

 _So...he was finding every bit of anything he could hurt me with?_ He wondered as he grew closer to the small house. _Because that's what it felt like._ He shuddered as the memory of Tails' mutilated body was brought back to the front of his mind, and he sped up.

He reached the house and pushed the door open, calling worriedly. "Tails?"

"Sonic?" Relief swept through him at the voice, and his ears swiveled, trying to pinpoint the source. "Back already?" The fox asked, poking his head up from around the stairwell, soot stained his fur, but Sonic really didn't care. He still felt a shower was at the top of his list of things to do, a little soot wasn't going to change anything. The second the fox rounded the top of the stairs, he was pulled into a tight hug.

Knowing the hedgehog for as long as he had, he picked up the subtle signs quickly. "What's wrong?" He pulled away, eyeing the hedgehog with worry. "And don't say nothing. I haven't seen you shaking so hard in a long time."

Sonic's ears flattened and he closed his eyes as the fox in front of him shifted to the one he had found in the hell he'd just returned from. Limp, bloodied, and dead. He took a shuddering breath and opened his eyes again. "Later." He smiled softly. "I just really needed a hug."

Tails still looked at him with worry, but didn't press. Just the fact that Sonic had so easily admitted that there was something wrong was a miracle. "…Alright." He finally answered as Sonic pulled away and started towards the bathroom on the ground floor. He paused in the entryway for a moment. "You know I'd do anything for you, right?"

His younger brother studied him curiously. He'd only been gone for two hours, if that. So what was he so shaken up about? "I know." He answered honestly.

Sonic smiled again, and most of the worry seemed to fade from his face this time.

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The original version had Tails making a comment about Shadow spiking some punch after Sonic explained what happened to him, but I cut out because this seemed like a much better place to end it.

Hope you enjoyed, and review if you did!


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